Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Back to School

It's time for a new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!  Our theme this week is Back to School, and the timing couldn't be any more perfect as my two kiddos start 3rd grade and Kindergarten next week.

We have another wonderful sponsor this week:  The Alley Way Stamps is offering their Learning Curve stamp set to the LEAD this week, so be sure to play along for your chance to win!

My mojo has been absent lately, so I kept my design simple with just a strip of patterned paper and some stamped images from Paper Smooches' Smarty Pants.  I added just a few swipes of Copic marker to add a little something to the images without having to color.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Kraft)

Patterned paper:  Fancy Pants

Stamps:  Paper Smooches (Smarty Pants)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip), Copic marker

Tool:  corner rounder

This one might be going to my husband, my very own absent-minded professor, as classes start at the College next week, too.

I hope you'll join us for our Back to School challenge!  Be sure to visit the Challenge blog to be inspired by the Design Team and link up your creation.

Have a great day!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Feeling Nautical

It has finally arrived!  Today is opening day of a new challenge, the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!  If you've been following along with the Design Team introductions, you already know that this is going to be a fantastic source of inspiration (just check out the list of designers on my sidebar!).

Now it's time to reveal our first challenge graphic:

To make things even more exciting, we have a fabulous sponsor for our first challenge.  Verve Stamps provided the Curtain Call Designers with the Strong Anchor stamp set and coordinating Nautical Die set to use on our cards, and they have generously offered up these stamps and dies to the winner of this week's challenge!

I was inspired by the navy and blue combo in the graphic, as well as the anchor.  I stamped the sentiment and rope frame from Strong Anchor directly on patterned paper, then die cut and stamped the anchor image to pop up inside the frame.

The rope border was stamped and clear embossed on navy cardstock, then I added some jute twine and wood veneer stars as accents.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Midnight Muse), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Patterned paper:  Fancy Pants (Off to School)

Stamps:  Verve (Strong Anchor)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Not Quite Navy), Hero Arts (Wet Cement), Versamark

Tools:  Verve (Nautical Die set), corner rounder

Other:  May Arts (twine), Studio Calico (wood veneer stars)

Be sure to visit the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge blog to get all the details on our first challenge, check out the amazing samples by the Design Team as well as our special guest from Verve Stamps, Julee Tilman, and to link up your creation based on the challenge graphic.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paper Smooches Sparks--Designer Draft sketch

I still had the Surf & Turf set on my craft table from the last Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge when the new one went live, so I whipped up a simple scene to play along.  This week's challenge is a sketch:

I love this goofy bird and his little friend standing on the pilings.  I decided to use a white card base so that I could stamp directly on it (although the pelican was fussy cut and popped up), but the "sky" looked a little plain.  I dripped some turquoise glitter paint onto the background to give it a little more interest.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White, Kraft)

Stamps:  Paper Smooches (Surf & Turf, Sentiment Sampler)

Ink:  Memento (Tuxedo Black), Tattered Angels (Peacock Chalkboard Glimmer Mist)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (woodgrain impression plate), corner rounder

Other:  Prismacolor Premier pencils, May Arts (twine)

This will be another great card to leave for my husband to find while the kids and I are visiting my family next week.  He has to stay behind and work, and he really starts to miss us, or so he says.  :)

We're halfway to the weekend!  Have a good one.

Simon Says...Patriotic Challenge

The Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog is having a Patriotic themed challenge this week, which is perfect timing as my cousin recently started boot camp at Fort Benning in Georgia.  I wanted to let him know how proud we are of his decision, and what better way to tell him than to emblazon the word "proud" right on the front of the card.

This came together very quickly, and the design was based on a graduation card I made recently.  I die cut the letters out of white cardstock first, then placed the letters back into the negative space while I stamped the stripes across the top.  Yes, it would have been easier to just stamp the stripes before die cutting, but I didn't think of that until afterwards.  :)

The white panel was given some texture with the linen & canvas impression plate (I think it's perfect for masculine cards).  I used navy patterned paper behind the letters and popped the top layer up with foam tape.  A few wooden stars add the finishing touch.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Patterned paper:  Echo Park (A Boy's Life)

Stamp:  Papertrey Ink (Faux Ribbon)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red)

Tools:  My Favorite Things (Die-Namics High Rise Alphabet Lowercase), Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate)

Other:  Studio Calico (wood veneer stars)

Looks like this challenge ends in less than 24 hours, but there's still time to link up your patriotic card.

Have a happy one!

My true north

Hi there friends.  We're halfway through another week, and I will certainly be glad to put this one behind me.

Most of you probably know that I work as a lab technician at the same college where my husband is a professor.  I started there almost two years ago, and it has been the perfect job for me for many reasons.

Unfortunately, our college has had to make a number of staffing cuts in the past year, and I learned last Friday that my position will no longer exist as of July 1.  It didn't come as a total surprise, but I'm still struggling to come to terms with the finality of the decision.

I'm trying to stay positive and focus on all of the projects around the house that I've been anxious to tackle, and I'd like to think I'll be able to spend more time in my craft room.  But I definitely feel as if I'm at a crossroads, especially since my son will be starting Kindergarten in the fall, and I had not envisioned being home once my kids were in school full time.

What does all of this have to do with my card today?  Well, this one is for my hubby.  Needless to say the events of the past week have been hard on him, especially since he will continue to work with the people who ultimately made this decision.

I just love this saying from the Knotty stamp set by Avery Elle.  My guy is my true north, without a doubt, and I know he'll help me find my way again.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Not Quite Navy), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  Avery Elle (Knotty), Papertrey Ink (Faux Ribbon)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Not Quite Navy, Real Red)

Tools:  My Favorite Things (Insert It 3 x 4 Insert die), Spellbinders (circle die)

Thanks so much for letting me share my news with you today.  I promise to have a much more upbeat post with a fun and "fabulous" card very soon.  Stay tuned!

Iron Craft Challenge!

Hi everyone!  I have such a fun post to share with you today.  A couple of weeks ago I got the sweetest email from a fellow crafter, Chaitali, of Cuts Crops and Creativity.  She explained that she's a big fan of the show Iron Chef and had an idea to create a crafting challenge inspired by it.  You can read all about it and see the first Iron Craft guest HERE.

Now, while I'm blushing at the thought of being called a "celebrity" crafter, I was completely honored to be asked to participate in what will become a weekly feature on Chaitali's blog.  Ready to see our challenge "ingredients"?

For this week's Iron Craft challenge, we used this color board from Design Seeds and stamps from Papertrey Ink's Happy Trails.

These colors definitely have a masculine vibe to me, and I've been wanting to make a simple set of notecards that would be appropriate for the men in our lives.  Think teachers, coaches, and co-workers.  For a set like this, it's best to keep things flat for mailing and no-frills.

Each card is stamped with one of my all-time favorite borders from PTI's Background Basics:  Retro in two shades of brown and two shades of blue onto an Oatmeal card base.  Then I simply added a sentiment and one or more accent images from Happy Trails.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Oatmeal)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Happy Trails, Background Basics:  Retro)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip, Marina Mist, Baja Breeze), ColorBox (Dune)

I can't wait to see what Chaitali created for the Iron Craft challenge, and I hope you'll pay her a visit, too!  Many thanks to her for including me this week!

Have a great start to your week, and thanks for stopping by!

An Awesome Birthday Card with CAS-ual Fridays Stamps

Hey there!  I have a card featured over on the store blog for CAS-ual Fridays Stamps today, so I'm popping in quickly to share it here, too.

Our good friends have a son who will be turning 8 this year, so I thought it would be fun to use stamps from Rad to get a head start on his birthday card.  His dad is the only person I've ever heard use the phrase "like a boss", so it seemed appropriate.  :)

This is super easy to put together, once I'd settled on my design and colors.  I placed the uninked stamps on the top red panel to line them up, picked them up all at once with my acrylic block, then stamped them with Real Red ink.

The nice thing about the white strip?  If you mess up the stamping on the white card base, you can always stamp it again on a separate strip and slip it into place.  Not that I would actually know that from experience or anything.  ;)

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Tangerine Tango), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (Rad)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Tangerine Tango), Versamark

Tools:  Fiskars (star punch)

Accessories:  Filigree (white embossing powder)

Like the punched holes I've done before, I like the simple look of the punched out stars for a masculine card, and it's a bonus that it stays flat for mailing.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Come back tonight for a new CASE Study challenge!

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Sneak Peek--Rad

Sneak peek week continues on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog!  Today's featured set, which will be available on January 18, is a graphic set that you will turn to again and again for those hard-to-make masculine cards, especially the young men in your life.

I just used some of the fantastic mix-and-match words in this set to make a birthday card for my brother.  I first made a panel of cardstock strips, die cut a star from the center, then added some texture to the panel with an impression plate.

After stamping the "totally epic" sentiment through the star opening onto the card base, I impressed a smaller star on top of it.  Instead of added dimensional embellishments like buttons or pearls, I kept the design flat and masculine by punching circles in the top panel before adhering it with foam dots.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Oatmeal, Lake House), Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy, Terracotta Tile), Stampin' Up! (Early Espresso)

Stamps:  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (Rad)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Early Espresso)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (star dies, Linen & Canvas impression plate), hole punches

Check out all of the fabulous samples up today on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog!

CFC85--Round of Applause

Hooray!  We made it to the end of the week!  LOL!  I'm looking forward to some fun activities with my family this weekend.  What do you have planned?

After taking a break last week, I'm back for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge.  Our theme is Round of Applause:  include at least one circle in your clean and simple design celebrating an accomplishment.

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps is sponsoring our challenge this week, so we're giving you a little preview of some of the goodies you have to look forward to in the next release.  :)

I decided to make a card for a male teen, which called for a graphic design, complementary colors of teal and orange, and a simple sentiment.  I'm guessing there are many teenage boys who would find the words "congratulations" or "way to go" totally uncool, but "epic" seemed appropriate.  :)

In case you can't tell, the circles with the open arrows are popped up on foam dots, while the last circle is punched in the teal panel with the orange arrows and sentiment stamped in the negative space.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Island Indigo)

Stamps:  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip)

Tools:  EK Success (circle punch), Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate)

We'll be sharing more sneak peeks of the new CFS sets starting January 14th!  In the meantime, visit the rest of the Girl Fridays to see what they have up their sleeves, then enter your creation in the gallery for a chance to win a fantastic prize from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!

CAS-ual Fridays #77--Snips, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

Please scroll down to see my 12 Kits of Christmas post!

Hello again!  Are you ready for a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge?  This week it's all about the guys in our lives:

All you have to do is create a clean and simple masculine project.  You could be our next Guest Designer!

As soon as I laid my eyes on the new CAS-ual Fridays Stamps set WTF, I knew I'd be making a card for my brother with it.  When he announced that he'd gotten a new job, it was the perfect opportunity to ink up this clever sentiment.

The stripes were heat embossed in white to match the crisp pinked border.  A simple design that packs a punch!

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Orange Zest, White)

Stamps:  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (WTF)

Ink:  Memento (Tuxedo Black), Versamark

Tools:  Fiskars (pinking shears)

I'm always looking for inspiration for masculine designs, so this week's challenge gallery will be a great resource.  I hope you'll play along with us!

Have a great start to your weekend!

CAS-ual Fridays #66--Splish Splash!

It's Friday!  Yippee!  Do you have any weekend plans?  We're heading up to Mt. Washington on Sunday and going to an amusement park to celebrate my daughter's 7th birthday, which was Wednesday.  I can't wait!

There's a super fun theme for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge--we want to see your clean and simple creations that have been inspired by the water!  Whether it's the ocean, pool, or pond, we hope you'll get your craft on and share your results with us this week.

Our sponsor this week, offering up a gift certificate to the winner, is Stop and Scrap!  Be sure to visit their online store, where you'll find loads of beautiful papers and accessories to feed your crafting addiction.

This is the first time I've had a chance to use the Guiding Light dies from WPlus9.  I used them to cut out the starfish and sand dollar from Peach Parfait cardstock, and I love the detail on the sand dollar in particular.

The large lighthouse image and stripes were heat embossed in white on a Marina Mist panel, which is framed by thin strips of Peach cardstock and mounted onto a white card base with foam dots.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Marina Mist, Peach Parfait), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Guiding Light), Papertrey Ink (Birthday Basics)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Marina Mist, Peach Parfait), Tsukineko (Versamark)

Tools:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Guiding Light dies), Papertrey Ink (banner die)

Accessories:  Filigree (embossing powder)

I really love how this turned out, and it's already on its way to my dad for his upcoming birthday.  :)

Hop on over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to find out more about this week's challenge and prize, and to see what the rest of the Girl Fridays have cooked up!

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back with a special post in a few hours, so feel free to come back and check it out.  ;)

Enjoy your Friday!

CAS-ual Fridays #63

It's time for a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge!  This week we have a fun color combo for you to try:

Our sponsor this week is Stop and Scrap, where you can find great deals on patterned paper and more.    Thank you, Stop and Scrap!

I didn't have much time for stamping this week, but I thought these colors would be great for a grungy but upbeat card for my brother.  I used stamps from The Craft's Meow's Typically Teen, layering them along the side of the card.

Originally I tried stamping the sentiment directly on the white panel, but I smudged it.  :(  To try to salvage it, I stamped a strip of cardstock with chevrons, added the sentiment, then layered it over the boo-boo.  

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Pacific Point), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  The Craft's Meow (Typically Teen), Lawn Fawn (Chevron Backdrops), Paper Smooches (Sentiment Sampler)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Pacific Point, Gumball Green), Papertrey Ink (Hawaiian Shores), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

What will you do with the challenge colors?  I can't wait to see your clean and simple creation!

I hope you have a fantastic weekend, friends!  Thanks for stopping by today.

CAS-ual Fridays #54--Sponsored by Gina K. Designs

Woohoo!  It's Friday!  Here in the U.S. many of us are looking forward to a long weekend for Memorial Day, so hubby and I have plans to stain our deck.  We sure know how to party, right?  *wink*

If you have some stamping time this weekend, we'd love to have you join us for a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge!  This week we're asking you to whip up something masculine, which would be the perfect chance to work on some Father's Day cards.

This week we're being sponsored by Gina K. Designs, and the Design Team got to work with the fun masculine papers from their Casual Friday paper pack!  How cool is that?

I was immediately drawn to the paper that looks like denim and had the idea to make a patched "knee" for a masculine get well card.

I first took a piece of the denim patterned paper and folded the left edge under, stitching it to another strip of denim paper to make a seam.

I cut a square patch from the navy blue gingham, also from the Casual Friday paper pack, and stitched it in place, leaving the ends of the thread trailing across the card front.  

The sentiment is from Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler, stamped in Real Red onto kraft cardstock and popped up with foam tape.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Kraft)

Patterned paper:  Gina K Designs (Casual Friday)

Stamp:  Paper Smooches (Sentiment Sampler)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red)

Accessories:  thread

I hope you'll join us with a masculine card this week!  Be sure to visit the rest of the Girl Fridays for more ideas.

Thanks for visiting today!  See you back here soon!

ColourQ #132 & Retro Sketches #6

Happy Tuesday, friends!  I hope you had a restful weekend.  I'm back today with a card for a new ColourQ challenge!  I also managed to use this week's sketch at Retro Sketches, inspired by a sweet card by my blogging buddy Lynn Mangan.

I used a similar design for a baby boy card a couple of weeks ago, so I hope you don't mind seeing these star dies again!  When I saw the pattern on the lampshade in the inspiration photo, the lines and dots made me think of PTI's Background Basics:  Retro.  

I stamped the lines in chartreuse, orange and red on the bottom half of my cardstock, then die cut the star just off of one edge.  I die cut a smaller star from Poppy Parade cardstock and added a Pumpkin Pie banner with a sentiment from Paper Smooches.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie), Papertrey Ink (True Black, White)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Background Basics:  Retro), Paper Smooches (Sentiment Sampler)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Lucky Limeade), Ranger (Spiced Marmalade), Clearsnap (Scarlet), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (star dies, banner die), corner rounder)

Accessories:  button, DMC floss

Sorry to keep it short, but I have to get back to work!  Be sure to visit the rest of the ColourQ Royal Court DT to be inspired, then link up your creation at the ColourQ blog!

Have a good one!

Pin-spired--Nautical stripes

Hi friends!  It's been a while since I made a card that wasn't for a DT assignment or challenge of some kind, so I decided to sit down for a few minutes this afternoon and make something just for me.  I recently Pinned this photo for inspiration and immediately sketched an idea for a card.  

                                                                                    Source: laviepetite.blogspot.com via Christina on Pinterest

It's pretty obvious how I was inspired!  I wanted to replicate the broad red stripes, so I stamped them onto white cardstock using PTI's Faux Ribbon.  I tucked strips of navy cardstock under the panel at the top and bottom and pinked the edges, then added a stitched "seam".

The sentiment is from Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler, and I balanced it by adding three navy buttons threaded with red and white baker's twine in the top corner.

The subtle texture on the striped panel comes from PTI's Linen & Canvas impression plate.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Enchanted Evening, White)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Faux Ribbon), Paper Smooches (Sentiment Sampler)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Not Quite Navy)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate), Fiskars (pinking shears)

Accessories:  Papertrey Ink (buttons), The Twinery (Maraschino baker's twine), thread

I've noticed a lot of designers posting cards that were inspired by photos on Pinterest.  I have a ton of pictures saved that I'd like to use as inspiration for cards, so maybe I'll make this a semi-regular feature.  What do you think?

I hope your weekend gets off to a great start!  I'll be back in the morning with a new Card Patterns sketch!